4 FREE Fitness ‘Apps’ You Need to Get a Better Beach Body

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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – In the gym, in the park, everywhere people like to work out you see smartphones. They’ve revolutionized the way we work out and they can be your best friend when you want to get buff! “It’s so amazing what these cell phones do now, they go in, they get the free app and now it is really helping people achieve their goals,” says Mary Piper, Owner of Louisiana’s Health & Fitness Magazine.

With so many apps to choose from, our health experts narrowed down their favorite four apps to help you get started:

Charity Miles

Road ID

Strava

My Fitness Pal

“The first app that I love is Charity Miles. It is a wonderful app that empowers you to actually raise money for your specific charity while you’re getting fit. If you’re a runner you’re going to earn 25 cents a mile for your charity. If you’re a cyclist you’re going to earn 10 cents a mile for your charity,” says Kerrie Ann Frey, Fitness Blogger and Pilates Instructor. You have to post your miles to a social media page like Facebook or Twitter for your charity to receive the donation. “You can change it up with every fitness activity you do or you can just continue to choose the charity that you really want to focus on.”

“Another important app that I like is Road ID. It lets your family and friends know when you’re starting your run or your walk or your cycle. You can input what route you’re going to go on,” says Frey. If the app detects that you’ve stopped moving for too long it sends a message to the emergency contact that you choose. “It’s a great tool. As a parent I would definitely use it for my kids as soon as they get old enough to be able to go on runs and bike rides by themselves.”

“Strava’s mission in their own words is to motivate athletes. What it does is it tracks your mileage yes, but it can also give you break downs in your pace it can give you break downs in your splits. On top of that it’s really a social tool for athletes to be able to share, to compete. A neat tool with Strava is that you can upload your gear. I can say ‘OK today I’m going to run in these shoes. They’re going to log my miles in for me.”

The last app is my Fitness Pal. It is the perfect app for someone who wants to count their calories. “It gives you the tool to do that and it also gives you professionals that you can get advice from, it gives you a community that you can interact with and motivate one another and to find motivation on days where you’re just not feeling it. Studies have shown that the fastest way to weight loss is to keep a food journal in fact you can double your weight loss if you simply just keep a food diary,” says Frey.